Breville's Die Cast Espresso Machine

We've been talking a lot about coffee since this Bittersweet Baking thing got underway. To celebrate, to keep us awake, and to keep us in our chairs blogging and not running out for lattes, we started brewing our own espresso drinks in the office.

We're playing around with Breville's Die Cast Espresso Machine. This pretty little machine had even the tea-drinkers in the office filling up while they blog and it's been nothing short of buzzy.

All stainless, almost Delorean-esque in its use of metal, the machine feels sturdy and is easy to clean. The steam wand for making foamy milk is mounted on a swivel ball which makes for easy maneuverability, a feature not many comparable machines have (see photo at left). This way you can easily fit your favorite milk pitcher underneath, including the very nice one that comes with the machine.

It can be a bit loud, so watch it in the office around conference calls or at home near sleeping babies or skittish pets. We also found that it had a bit of a steep learning curve: a good week of making espresso and we had it mastered, but most of us fumbled around a lot with the order of the buttons and had some messy incidents with unexpected bursts of steam.

Sara Kate is the founding editor of The Kitchn. She co-founded the site in 2005 and has since written three cookbooks. She is most recently the co-author of The Kitchn Cookbook, to be published in October 2014 by Clarkson Potter.